Hello!

My name is Ally Bean and this is my personal blog answering the question: "What up, Buttercup?" I'm here a few times a week-- unless, of course, I'm not. And yes, I wear eyeglasses. Spectacles, if you will.

Please Note

“I am not always good and noble. I am the hero of this story, but I have my off moments.”

This new camera is similar to the old one, but has more bells & whistles on it. *yeah* I’m looking forward to learning about each cool thing that my P520 can do, but for these photos I just winged it. This camera is, after all, a point & shoot model, so why not go with the obvious?

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[Hello FTC! It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I haven’t bought much lately. Huh. Well, just as a reminder, please note that I’m not being paid for my opinion here. I’m just explaining my experiences without any compensation whatsoever. That’s the way I roll, but then you knew that.]

Polly, the FTC is the Federal Trade Commission. If you review a product and do not disclose that you were compensated for your opinion of said product, you can be fined &/or sued.

Being married to a lawyer [and having spent most of my life around lawyers], I err on the side of caution here on my blog by stating clearly that I accept no monies [or other compensation] for any of my opinions.

Not everyone does this. And those who do it, usually are much more formal about how they do it. But me being me, I like to make my conversation with the FTC more personal… but no less legal.

Thanks Becky. Now that I have a better camera and it is finally getting colorful around here, I’ll be taking more photos again. It got to a point this late winter/early spring when the only thing to photograph was more grayness. And who wanted to see that? Not me, that’s for sure.

Pretty, pretty pansies! The new camera looks like it takes really nice photos. Love new toys! I always enjoy your FTC disclaimer. I picture someone at the FTC reading it and saying, “Damn, she got us again!”

winsomebella, me too. I added all the rest of them so that I could see how various shots looked on the blog. I grant you that this is not the most exciting photo story I’ve ever published, but it does provide me with a learning experience.

Oh those flowers look so beautiful (and both my favorites), so thank you for these pictures – these brightened my day! 🙂 As for the picture quality, I am very impressed! I’ve been thinking a lot about buying a new camera (but won’t until I feel like I “earned” it, meaning I know how to properly use the darn thing), probably used, on eBay, just like my “new” Mac. I’m mystified by the price point of cameras in the design business/blog world lately. Well actually I’m mystified that everyone now seems to think that we all need expensive cameras to take good pictures. Someone casually mentioned to me the other day that they were selling their awesome camera, for less than the $850 they paid for it (and this is someone who at best was using it for kid birthday parties and the like). I know we all have different priorities for our money, but I was stunned. Oh the things I could do with $850, and buying a new camera wasn’t one of them…

Kristen, the actual colors of the flowers and the colors in the photo are dead on. I agree that the photo quality is very good. I know my limits when it comes to cameras, and decided that a DSLR camera would be too much for me to handle– weight-wise and price-wise. As I’ve done well with my previous [now Zen-Den’s] Nikon, it made sense to get another one that was newer, better, faster, cooler. I’m looking forward to messing around with it.

I should of course point out that my rant above was not about your camera specifically (which I think is an excellent price point for type and I am using a very similar camera to your older camera now, an old Panasonic) 🙂

Ha, you are so smart, 🙂 Of course that’s what is going on. I never thought of it that way since I look at a camera as an artist’s tool. And I’ve seen people draw amazing things with a crayon, a stubby pencil, etc. I think the implication irks me – that we all have to spend a certain amount of money to produce quality work. Not true! Stepping down off my soapbox now….

Pansies are the happiest flowers, aren’t they? I love their bright, joyful colors. Living where we do, everything is in full bloom and the trees are all leafed out already. I took Mozart to the park a few blocks from us and took pictures with my little Kodak camera of all the azaleas. It seems that everyone in the neighborhood has a hundred of them in their yard–and they’re stunning! I’ll try to email you the pics. Enjoy your new camera:)

Those colors are gorgeous and it’s looking like spring!! I need a point and shoot; my old Kodak Easy Share is as old as the hills and my husband’s Nikon D-80 is gorgeous but too big to haul in my purse.

Margaret, I like this size of point & shoot because it is small enough for me to hold comfortably (compared to a DSLR) but still allows me to be artsy with my shots. It would not fit into my purse, but it came with a carrying bag which I’ll use. I’ll be interested in learning which camera you choose because the choices are endless… as you will discover when you go shopping!

Relyn, I’m too honest to be able to not disclose. I take no monies, but have no prob with other bloggers who do. Not on a soapbox here. I would, however, suggest that disclosing your relationship with the product might be in the best interest of all concerned. Just saying…